Kings coach Keith Smart decided to leave Cousins in the locker room after halftime of Sacramento's 97-85 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.

Cousins had a verbal altercation with Smart in the locker room and it was serious enough to Smart to leave his leading scorer and rebounder in the locker room in a game the Kings trailed by 14.

"It was conduct detrimental to the team and we left it at," Smart said without elaborating.

Smart did not say if Cousins would play today against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I'm going to focus on (Friday night)," Smart said. "And then I'll move forward to the next day."

Well, on the next day (Saturday), the Kings suspended Cousins indefinitely.

Cousins said he "was in the wrong" during halftime.

"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room but I was wrong," Cousins said. "But what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room."

Cousins was then asked what he could do to avoid further situations where attention was on his actions off the court.

"Don't talk back," Cousins said. "That's the thing. I shouldn't have responded back. Should have accepted what was said and stayed quiet."

Cousins said the situation was humbling.

"I messed up," he said. "I'm apologizing to all my teammates for it, for responding the way I did, and we'll move on from it.I grow from all of my mistakes."

Cousins has already been suspended twice by the NBA. He earned a two-game banishment in November for leaving the locker room after a game to confront San Antonio television analyst Sean Elliott on Nov. 9.

Cousins just returned from a one-game suspension eight days ago for hitting Dallas guard O.J. Mayo in the groin on Dec. 17. Cousins said he didn't mean to hit Mayo in the groin.

Cousins has been fined numerous times by the team for spats with team personnel and most notably a physical altercation with former teammate Donte' Greene during his rookie season.